Atrius
Atrius Health and BIDMC
New Relationship Benefits Patients
Atrius Health, the state’s largest independent physicians group (comprised of affiliates Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Southboro Medical Group and South Shore Medical Center ) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have expanded their relationship to establish a new model of health care delivery, better serving area patients.
Beginning in January, Harvard Vanguard internists at three Boston locations began referring patients who needed emergency care or hospitalization to BIDMC. Over time, the Atrius Health network of 800 doctors will also send patients needing complex cardiovascular and cancer care, as well as other surgical specialties, to Beth Israel Deaconess. After receiving advanced care at the hospital, patients will continue with their original Atrius Health physician for follow-up. The goal of this model is to improve collaboration between the referring doctor and the hospital. This model is better for patients because it delivers the appropriate care in the appropriate setting, and is often more convenient. Better coordination also decreases the cost of care.
One such way our two organizations are improving collaboration and coordination of patient care is through the linking together of the BIDMC and Atrius Health electronic medical record (EMR) systems. All Atrius Health clinicians now have secure, one-click access to the BIDMC records of their patients. This provides a new level collaboration between our organizations that extends from the offices of Atrius Health physicians to the hospital.
"I am very pleased with the new relationship," says Dr. Pascale Carbonara, a Harvard Vanguard internist at the Kenmore practice in Boston. "The system put in place to communicate patient information has meant high quality care with no waste of resources on unnecessary tests."
Some policy experts have called this collaborative approach the wave of the future. Dr. Amy Boutwell of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement told the Boston Globe, “these organizations and others like them are at the leading edge of taking up the challenge of improving care.”
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Posted March 2010
